How Do You Measure a Year?
by SisterOfAnElvenWannabe
Summary: A drabble or short story for each day of the year. For Toxic Rainfall's "A Drabble a Day" Challenge. Day 1- The birth of Lily Luna Potter. Day 6- Andromeda Tonks reads about the arrest of her cousin Sirius Black in the paper. Rated T because I don't know what might come up later.
1. Day 1: New

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. Since it's already the second I'll hopefully be publishing two chapters today. Also, the title of this story is a reference to the song "Seasons of Love", which I also do not own.**

 **Written for ToxicRainfall's** _ **365 Days of Drabbles**_ **Challenge**

 **Day 1: New**

"Albus, James, come and meet your little sister" Harry entered the waiting room of St. Mungo's where his sons sat between Ron and Hermione. Little Rose sat next to Albus, and Hermione held baby Hugo, born only two weeks before, in her arms.

Four-year-old James scowled as he jumped down from the bench where he was seated, "Aw, it's a girl? Yuck!"

Two-year-old Albus didn't seem to share his brother's disdain. He smiled sweetly as he scampered over to his father, followed closely by Rose,

"Can I come too, Uncle Harry?" her tiny voice piped. Harry smiled,

"Sure, Rosie" He set off back to the hospital room, taking James' hand to make the slightly unwilling child begin walking. Albus and Rose followed closely behind, holding hands.

Harry entered the hospital room where Ginny sat up in a bed, looking tired but happy, and holding their newborn daughter in her arms. James scrambled up onto the bed and the younger children followed suit.

James' sulky expression softened as he looked at the baby in his mother's arms, tiny wisps of red hair clinging to her forehead, "Well she's kind of cute I guess" he huffed, "What's her name?"

Ginny smiled,

"Her name is Lily. Lily Luna Potter"

"She's got red hair like me!" Rose's voice was delighted as she tugged on a few strands of her own red hair.

Harry watched as Albus reached out one stubby finger to carefully touch the baby's face. A smile spread across his quiet son's shy face.

Harry felt a smile spread across his own face as he took in his wife and three children.

Somehow his little family now seemed complete.

 **Please review and tell me what you thought.**


	2. Day 2: Glory

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.**

 **Day 2: Glory**

In the opinion of Helga Hufflepuff glory was entirely overrated. All three of the other Founders sought glory, though in different ways.

For Salazar Slytherin glory was about having the purest blood, the noblest family line, and the most ambitous mind.

For Godric Gryffindor it wasn't blood that mattered but deeds. Heroics and boldness were the way to glory in his books.

For Rowena Ravenclaw neither blood nor deeds mattered so much. For her it would always be about knowledge and wisdom. Which might not have seemed to be about glory, until you saw the witch's thirst to be the wisest and most knowledgeable of all.

Helga was having none of it. Ambition, courage and wisdom were all good things, but if not tempered by compassion all could be deadly.

That, Helga decided, was her role. Not to achieve fame and glory through her deeds, or her blood line, or her wisdom, but to be the peacekeeper, to temper the others and their need for glory. To remind them of compassion.

When Salazar left it was a blow. In some ways she felt she had failed, that she should have been able to make him see reason, but she dealt with these feelings. It would be arrogant to assume that she could save everyone.

Helga Hufflepuff wasn't known for her daring, her cunning, or her knowledge. Known for patience, hard work, and loyalty, her House would often be overlooked. But she didn't mind. She knew what her House represented was just as important as all the rest. In some ways, it was the most important of the lot. Because untempered by compassion and loyalty, bravery and ambition, and even wisdom might do anything to achieve glory. And that can lead to dark times indeed.

 **Please review and tell me what you thought. I was originally thinking of using the Malfoys for this word, but then I thought of this. I'm a Ravenclaw, but all the hate Hufflepuff gets annoys me, so here's my defense.**


	3. Day 3: Snow

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. This one is based on the scene in the first book where the Weasley twins bewitch snowballs to hit Quirrell in the back of the head.**

 **Day 3: Snow**

The Dark Lord Voldemort was contemplating how he would go about his rise to power after the Philosopher's Stone was in his possession when he felt something hit the turban that hid his face from the unsuspecting students of Hogwarts. Cold and wet seeped through the fabric.

"Quirrell" Voldemort whispered in a silky, dangerous tone, "What _was_ that?"

"Uh, a-a snowball, m-my Lord" Quirrell stammered. Voldemort was about to reply when a second snowball hit the turban.

"Quirrell…." He said again, "Who is throwing these… snowballs?"

"Er…. Well, no one my Lord. I think they've been hexed." Another snowball hit the turban.

"Quirrell!" Voldemort shouted.

"I-I'm sorry my Lord" Quirrell's entire body was trembling, "I can't stop them! I'm sure they'll stop on their own soon!"

"You are very lucky I still need you" Voldemort whispered, his voice deadly.

Splat.

 **Please leave a review and let me know what you think.**


	4. Day 4: Heart

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.**

 **Day 4: Heart**

"I love you" he said, giving her his dazzling smile. An answering smile tugged at the corners of Merope's mouth, but it didn't quite reach her eyes. She laid one hand on her slightly swollen stomach. Was this what she wanted for her child? Parents whose love was based on pretense?

She stretched up to put her arms around his neck and kissed him, her eyes filling with tears, "I love you too, I've always loved you. Promise me you'll remember that, okay?"

Tom looked at her with child-like bewilderment

"Merope, what's wrong?" She shook her head,

"Just promise you'll remember"

"I promise…but Merope-"

She shook her head, cutting him off and forced another smile,

"I'll be right back, I'm going to go make us some tea." She reached up and kissed him one last time, fleetingly, then walked into the kitchen.

When the tea was brewed she withdrew a tiny glass vial from the folds of her robes. She held it up, staring into it for a long moment, then she opened the window and tipped the contents of the vial out onto the ground.

 **Please review. Hope you enjoyed.**


	5. Day 5: Starlight

**Disclaimer: Yet another day has passed and I still don't own Harry Potter. Technically it's already the sixth, but this is the chapter for the fifth.**

 **Day 5: Starlight**

7-year-old Scorpius Malfoy felt a mixture of confusion and excitement as his mother led him out of the house. He had rarely been outside this late before.

"What are we doing, mummy?" he piped up. His mother smiled softly,

"I want to show you something." She spread a blanket out on the lawn and sat down on it, patting the spot beside her in invitation. Scorpius sat down beside his mother. She lay back on the blanket and he followed her lead, snuggling into her side as he did so.

"Look up at the sky" his mother directed softly and Scorpius obeyed.

"Do you see that bight star there" she asked, pointing. Scorpius nodded,

"Yes, Mummy"

"You see how it's part of a kind of shape?" she asked, tracing the shape in the sky with her finger.

Scorpius nodded again, "Uh-huh" His mother looked over at him and smiled,

"That's the constellation, Scorpius" The little boy's eyes widened,

"Scorpius, like me?" His mother chuckled,

"Yes, like you. That's what you're named for" Scorpius looked up at the pattern in the sky again, a smile spreading across his face. It felt special, having this pattern of stars up in the sky that shared his name.

He snuggled himself more securely against his mother's side with a yawn and gazed up at the sky. It wasn't long until he had fallen fast asleep.

 **Please leave a review and tell me what you thought.**


	6. Day 6: Uncertainty

**Disclaimer: I still don't own Harry Potter**

 **Day 6: Uncertainty**

Andromeda Tonks fished five knuts out of her purse to pay the owl who had delivered the _Daily Prophet_. She piked up the paper and then nearly dropped it again in shock. The face of her cousin, Sirius Black stared up at her from the front cover. It was a minute before she could make herself read the headline, fearing that she was about to find out that her cousin had been killed. Instead, the headline screamed:

 **Sirius Black arrested! Murdered 13 with a single curse!**

Andromeda's knees trembled and she sank shakily into an armchair, staring at the newspaper in disbelief. By the time she reached the end of the article Andromeda's whole body was shaking and if she had been standing up she might have fainted.

Sirius a Death Eater and a murderer… it was impossible. It couldn't be true. She closed her eyes and words from the paper seemed to be imprinted on her eyelids.

 **Multiple eyewitnesses…**

It couldn't be true, but if there were so many eyewitnesses…how could it be false?

A few days ago Andromeda had been rejoicing in the downfall of the Dark Lord. Now she felt as if her world had been turned upside down.

If Sirius Black was a murderer, then what was there that she could ever be certain of again?

Just then the front door of the house opened and the answer to her question walked through it, a fair-haired man carrying a giggling child with bubblegum pink hair on his shoulders. Ted was laughing but his smile faded when he saw his wife's expression, and the way her hands clutched the paper.

"Andromeda, what is it?"

Andromeda shook her head slightly and nodded to their daughter to communicate to her husband that she didn't want to speak about it in front of the child. Ted set Nymphadora down and the seven-year-old ran to her mother.

As her daughter climbed into her lap and threw her arms around her neck, babbling about her day, Andromeda couldn't help but smile, despite the terrible article in the she still held clutched in her hand.

 **Hope you enjoyed.** **Please review.**


	7. Day 7: Breakfast

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, and I never will.**

 **I think this chapter is one of my favorites that I've written so far.**

 **Day 7: Breakfast**

You could learn a lot about the students at Hogwarts at breakfast. Minerva had observed this even as a student, and from a teacher's vantage-point up at the staff table this was even clearer. It wasn't breakfast itself that gave such an opportunity for learning, but the post delivery.

In the first few days, you could tell which of the news students were Muggleborn just by watching their reactions as hundreds of owls flew in over their heads. As the year went on, other things also made themselves apparent through the post delivery.

James Potter received post at least once a week, and once a month received a package of treats from home.

Over at the Slytherin table Regulus Black was subject to the same treatment, but his brother Sirius very rarely received letters, and when he did they often seemed to infuriate him. A few times the boy received Howlers, and though she often had to tell him off herself for his mischief, Minerva would have liked to have had a word or two with his mother.

Severus Snape got occasional letters from home, but they were few and far between.

Lily Evans received letters from home frequently, but many times as McGonagall watched her open her letters, she observed a disappointed look on the girl's face, as though she had been hoping for something that did not come.

There were other students McGonagall noticed naturally, but these cases rather stood out in her mind.

Years later, McGonagall would observe a different set of students.

She would notice how often Draco Malfoy received packages of sweets in the post, more often than James Potter had years ago.

The Weasley children, though they weren't subject to spoiling such as this, received letters from home on a regular basis.

She would notice that Harry Potter very rarely received anything in the post, and when he did it seemed to come as a great surprise to the boy.

The morning post delivery provided quite a glimpse into the home lives of Hogwarts inhabitants, if you cared even to observe it.

Yes, if there was one thing McGonagall had learned in all her years at Hogwarts, it was that you could learn a lot about the students at breakfast.

 **Please review. By the way, in case anyone is confused, Lily looks disappointed when she opens her letters because she's hoping Petunia will write to her. I knew I was going to something involving the morning deliveries with this word. Originally I started writing about Lily seeing it for the first time but in the middle of the first sentence I had this idea. Hope you enjoyed.**


	8. Day 8: Achievement

**Disclaimer: I still don't own Harry Potter. This one's a day late, but it's also the longest so far, so hopefully that makes up for it.**

 **Day 8: Achievement**

The four boys hurried into the unused classroom, glancing around to make sure no one was watching them. One of them, a skinny dark-haired boy with glasses pulled out his wand and murmured a locking spell, pointing it at the door, while another, a tall, handsome boy, as dark-haired as his friend flicked his wand carelessly at the curtains, causing them to draw shut.

All four boys glanced at each other nervously, indeed the smallest looked positively terrified.

"You're sure you've done it?" asked the boy with light brown hair, subconsciously rubbing the badge he wore, which had a P engraved on it.

"Only one way to find out" the boy with glasses answered, "Shall I go first then?" Receiving no protests from his friends the boy took a deep breath, closing his eyes in concentration.

A moment later he had vanished, replaced by a magnificent stag. All three of his friends cheered, before the one with badge, remembering that they mustn't be heard shushed the others.

"You've done it, James" The other dark-haired boy exclaimed with a wide grin, "Alright, I'm next"

A moment later the stag had vanished and the dark-haired bespectacled boy called James was back, watching his friend eagerly to see his transformation.

Just as quickly as James had done, the other boy vanished, replaced by an enormous black dog.

"Bloody hell, Sirius" James exclaimed, "If anyone sees you they'll think you're the Grim!"

The dog gave a bark that turned into a laugh halfway through as he transformed back into a teenage boy. He looked at the smallest boy, "Alright Peter, let's see what your Animagus form is then"

The small, chubby boy named Peter trembled with what seemed to be equal parts excitement and fear. It took him a bit longer than the other two to transform, but soon enough a tiny rat squeaked on the floor where he had been.

James and Sirius couldn't help but laugh, but the other boy, the light haired one gave the rat a small smile. "That's a useful form Peter, you'll be able to get to the knot in the tree."

When the rat had turned back into a boy the four left the classroom, the three new Animagi talking in hushed, excited tones and making plans for the next full moon.

The other boy trailed behind them, unable to speak, overwhelmed by what his friends had done for him, and by the knowledge that he would no longer have to be alone during the most frightening times of his life.

 **Hope you enjoyed. Please review.**


	9. Day 9: Obsession

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. Do I really have to write this 365 times?**

 **Day 9: Obsession**

Jealousy wasn't a safe emotion to harbor toward the Dark Lord, especially if you happened to be one of his most trusted followers.

Rodolphus tried his best to repress this emotion, ever aware of what might happen to him if the Dark Lord were ever to discover it in his mind and take it as a threat.

Sometimes though it would rear up suddenly, watching the way his wife reacted like a fawning school girl whenever the Dark Lord so much as looked at her, hearing the tone of slavish adoration in her voice when she spoke of him. Oftentimes he would feel his hands trembling first with rage, then, though he'd never admit it, with fear at the thought of what the Dark Lord might do to him if he knew what he was feeling.

He saw other women, some of them Death Eaters, a few of them random witches he met in the street. He told himself this was to drive away the jealousy. In reality it was in the hopes of eliciting some kind of reaction from his wife.

She never noticed. No matter how obvious he made it she was far too busy simpering over the Dark Lord to even notice what her husband as doing, much less care.

Rodolphus had pledged that everything he had belonged to the Dark Lord, and he would remain faithful. What other choice was there? But try as he might, he couldn't keep down the wish that everything didn't have to include his wife's heart. Of course that wasn't entirely accurate. To have given that up, Rodolphus would have had to have had it in the first place.

 **So, Bellatrix. This word belonged to her from the moment I saw it. I'd rather not get into her creepy head though, so you have her from her husband's perspective. Almost makes you pity him, doesn't it? Please review.**


	10. Day 10: Flutter

**Disclaimer: I apologize for this being a day late. Hopefully I can also get to today's prompt today.**

 **Day 10: Flutter**

The tiny owl flutters his wings excitedly as the wizard with the long tangled hair ties a letter to his leg. He's never had a real job before!

The wizard looks down at him, making a sound that might be a laugh, though it reminds the little owl of a dog barking.

"You have to hold still or I'll never get this tied" the wizard mutters and the little owl freezes instantly, holding his breath, which causes the wizard to make the strange bark-like sound again.

The wizard finishes the letter and the little owl feels himself being scooped up in the man's hand.

The wizard carries him outside and holds him up in the air. "Alright, take that letter to Harry Potter. Can you do it?"

The owl gives an indignant hoot at the doubt in the man's voice as he flings himself off the man's hand and into the air.

Just before the little owl flies out of sight, wings fluttering madly, he sees the wizard disappear, replaced by an enormous black dog.

 **So there you have it. Sirius sending the letter to Harry, from Pigwidgeon's perspective. Hope you enjoyed. Please leave a review and tell me how I did.**


	11. Day 11: Breeze

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. (That's Ginny's job).**

 **Day 11: Breeze**

A gentle breeze blew as the couple made their way up the hill, ruffling the man's messy black hair and causing the woman's dark red locks to flutter gently.

They reached the top and the man pointed a thin piece of wood he had in his hand at the blanket the woman was carrying. It flew from her arms, unrolled, and settled itself on the ground.

She rolled her eyes, laughing,

"Honestly James, was it really necessary to use magic for that?"

The man shrugged, giving her a crooked grin, as he set the large wicker basket he was carrying down on the blanket.

He sat down on the blanket and the woman settled down next to him.

With a slight grin James made a big show of setting his wand down and unpacking sandwiches, crisps, Cauldron Cakes, and bottles of pumpkin juice and butterbeer from the basket by hand.

"Much better" the woman approved in a teasing voice, taking a sandwich and a bottle of pumpkin juice.

Later when the all the sandwiches, crisps and cakes had been eaten or packed away, and the couple were both sipping from bottles of butterbeer, James turned to the woman with a nervous look on his face. He fumbled with something in his robes for a minute before extracting it and shifting himself onto one knee.

He lifted her hand in one of his and revealed the beautiful ring he was holding in the palm of his other hand, "Lily, will you marry me?"

Tears slowly flled Lily's eyes and trickled down her face and she nodded and said in a quivering voice, "Yes-yes, of course I'll marry you, James"

And then they were in each other's arms and he was kissing her, neither one of them aware of the breeze that still ruffled their hair, making hers dance like fire in the sunlight.

 **Hope you enjoyed. I'd been wanting to do something with Lily and James for a few days, so here it is. Please leave a review and let me know your thoughts.**


	12. Day 12: Unpopular

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.**

 **A/N: A day late again, I apologize. To be fair, I was fairly busy babysitting yesterday, but really I just couldn't think of what to write.**

 **Day 12: Unpopular**

Astoria Greengrass had always gone largely unnoticed by her classmates. She had been taught, as had so many others in Slytherin, that Muggles weren't worth much and Muggleborn's worth almost as little. As a small child she had accepted this without question. After all, if her parents said it it must be true. However, the older she grew the less she could believe this.

Knowing that her fellow Slytherins would never understand her feelings, yet unwilling to lie to make herself fit in, Astoria never spoke much at all. In the Common Room or the Great Hall she sat with her sister and her sister's friends, not excluded, but never quite part of the group either.

In her fourth year when Draco Malfoy told the other Slytherins about the Defense group Potter had had, (Draco was furious that Potter had gotten off the hook, but quite pleased that Dumbledore was gone), she found herself wishing, though she'd never have admitted it, that she could have been part of the group. It wasn't that she wanted to train with a bunch of Gryffindor's, she just figured anything would be better than what they learned in Umbridge's Defense classes (which was nothing at all).

She was surprised when, in her fifth year, she was made a Prefect, but quite proud, she was after all a Slytherin, and despite her ability to blend in to the shadows, quite ambitious.

Her family stayed out of the war. They didn't swear allegiance to Voldemort but they didn't fight against him either.

Though many of her Slytherin classmates relished the way Hogwarts was run in Astoria's sixth year, she loathed it. She watched her classmates from other Houses stand up to the Carrows and refused to do the terrible things they were told to do in the Dark Arts class and she almost wished she had been Sorted into another House. Perhaps then she'd have been brave enough to make a stand as well. Instead she kept quiet, just as she always had.

After leaving Hogwarts she became reacquainted with Draco Malfoy. He was not the scornful, arrogant boy she remembered. The war, and the choices he had made, had changed him forever. And it was in this new, changed Draco, with his regrets and his faith in the way the world worked shaken, that Astoria finally found someone to confide in, someone who like her, had found that the things he had been taught all his life didn't quite ring true.

 **Please review. I'm not sure if I like this or not.**


	13. Day 13: Ruined

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter**

 **Day 13: Ruined**

During the first few weeks after Greyback attacks him, Bill won't look at Fleur. Or rather, he sends every moment she isn't watching him gazing at her, but if she ever looks over at him, he stares at the ground.

Three weeks after he was attacked he says in a quiet, hollow sort of voice that they shouldn't get married.

For a moment she just stares at him, and as always he looks at the floor. Then she begins to sob.

He takes her in his arms then and holds her for several moments before she can calm down enough to ask, in a tremulous voice, why he no longer loves her.

At that Bill stares at her, shocked that she doesn't understand, doesn't realize that his love for her is the reason he's saying this. That he would never want her to marry him just because she had already said yes, not now that he was scarred, ruined.

"Don't love you? I love you more than anything!"

Then, why, she demands, her French accent even thicker than normal due to her emotions, has he barely looked at her in weeks, why is he trying to call off their marriage?

He stares at her like he has never seen her before, looking into her eyes for the first time since the attack.

"It's obvious isn't it?" he says when at last he finds his voice. "Even before I never knew what someone like you ever saw in someone like me, and now…." He waves a hand at his disfigured face, "How can you even stand to look at me?"

She slaps him. It doesn't hurt really, but it's a shock.

She yells in French for at least a moment before calming down enough to speak in English, no longer shouting but her voice furious, almost a snarl, " 'Ow can you be so stupid? You think just because my grand-mère is a Veela all I care about is beauty?" she shakes her head, "I zought you knew me better than zat, Bill…"

Bill wants to say something, but the right words won't come, "I- I just-"

She puts her hands on his shoulders and stares up at him, her face no longer angry but very serious, "I love you, Bill. I don't care what you look like. I love you and you will always be the most beautiful thing in the world to me"

And then she kisses him and as he kisses her back all his fears about what she thinks of him melt away, seeming as childish as believing in a monster under the bed.

He breaks away at last with a chuckle, "I suppose we're like Beauty and the Beast, now…"

"Who?" Fleur asks, in a confused tone and he chuckles,

"It's a Muggle story my dad mentioned once…"

 **Please review. I think this is the longest one I've written for this story so far. I don't think I did Fleur's accent very well though…**


	14. Day 14: Heaven

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.**

 **Day 14: Heaven**

When he opens his eyes he is confused. Where is he? A moment ago he was at the Ministry, fighting Bellatrix… He leaps to his feet. He has to get back! He has to help the others! Then he hears someone laugh, an impossibly familiar laugh. He whirls around and he can't take in what he is seeing.

For a moment he thinks it must be Harry, because it can't be James. James is dead. But this man is older, he has no scar, and the eyes behind his glasses are hazel not green. And there, walking up to stand beside him is Lily.

Sirius knows he is gaping, "James? Lily?" the sound of his own voice is another shock to him. He sounds younger. "But- but you're dead"

James nods with a grin, as if he is waiting for Sirius to figure something else. Sirius feels his eyes widen as he understands, "I'm dead too?"

James nods.

"But how? I don't remember- I didn't think she used the killing curse…" It is Lily who answers him, quite calmly, as if he had inquired about the weather,

"The Veil you fell through, it was death"

Sirius swallows, "But what about the others? They're still in danger!"

"They'll be okay." James reassures him, "It's alright. None of them will be joining us today"

James' face is serious now as he looks at his best friend, "We want to thank you, Sirius. For everything you've done for our son" Lily nods beside him, her eyes full of gratitude.

Sirius shrugs, thinking that he couldn't have not tried to do all he could for Harry, and that really he should have done more, but he doesn't voice this thought. Still James rolls his eyes as if he knows what Sirius is thinking. Somehow it's in seeing that tiny gesture that it finally sinks in for Sirius that this is real, that it isn't a dream, Lily and James really are standing before him. He thought it had already sunk in, but now he realizes that up until this moment he couldn't quite believe it.

Suddenly there are tears in his eyes, and he is embracing James, and then Lily is embracing him and for the first time in fourteen years Sirius is completely at peace.

 **I've never written something like this before, an after death look at the afterlife. Please review and let me know what you think. I kind of wish I had put Regulus in here. Maybe I'll do a sort of continuation with another word sometime.**


	15. Day 15: Competition

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.**

 **A/N: Well its four days late and I', still behind but this one is done and it's longer than most of my stuff.**

 **So without further ado…**

 **Day 15: Competition**

Gabrielle Delacour sat in a chair in the strange office, swinging her legs back and forth. The little girl felt a mixture of excitement and curiosity, and a little bit of nerves as well. Her parents had received a letter the day before and she had been brought here from her home in France to help in some way with the Second Task in the Tournament her big sister was competing in.

A stern-looking older witch had brought her to this office and left her in the company of a pretty teenage Asian girl while she went to fetch someone else.

The other girl, who said her name was Cho, seemed nice to Gabrielle but the little girl was too busy wondering what was going on to talk much.

Just then the door opened and the stern witch returned, followed by a teenage boy and girl. The boy had red hair, and the girl bushy brown. An older wizard also followed the others into the office and Gabrielle recognized him from her Chocolate Frog cards: Albus Dumbledore.

She noticed that the teenage boy and girl gave her strange looks, as if they were wondering who she was and what she was doing here. She couldn't blame them. She was wondering what she was doing here herself.

Albus Dumbledore began to speak, explaining that he was going to put them all to sleep and they would be taken into the lake, where the champions would have to find them. Gabrielle felt her eyes widen at this and Albus Dumbledore must have seen this, because he gave her a kind smile as he assured the four young people that they would be perfectly safe, and would wake up when they were back above the water.

Gabrielle found that she couldn't help but trust him, but she was still rather glad that she'd be asleep the whole time.

Gabrielle watched him put the three older kids to sleep and then it was her turn.

When she awoke she didn't know where she was. It was confusing and rather frightening to find herself suddenly out in the middle of the lake, especially as she couldn't swim. She became aware that somebody was holding on to her and to her hazy slowly waking mind the skinny teenage boy that kept her afloat could be nothing less than a prince come to rescue her.

When she saw the red headed boy nearby, and farther off, spotted her sister on the shore, looking frantic, she remembered what had happened, but somehow even knowing that she hadn't really been in danger, and it was only part of the competition her sister was in, that impression of the black-haired boy (whom she now realized was the famous Harry Potter) as a daring prince remained firmly planted in her mind.

 **Hope you enjoyed this little peek into the mind of 8-year-old Gabrielle. Please leave a review and let me know your thoughts.**


End file.
